Possibly the perfect place

ATIGUN PASS, Alaska &#151 It’s nearly impossible to do justice to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with words. I can’t imagine what this place will be like in a month or in the dead of winter, but in August it’s about the most ideal setting I can envision. As long as you don’t mind a little cold and snow.

My group took a five-hour hike into the refuge. The journey took us into the Atigun River valley, with the river constantly to our left and the Brooks Range to our right. As you can see from some of the pictures, the terrain looks forbidding and barren from a distance. But once you sort of get down into it, you’re treated to a series of spectacular runoff streams and snow covered fauna.

As you can see by one of the pictures, the streams can be large enough to make fording a little tricky. But the Los Angeles Times writer Mary Engel (smiling at the camera) came through unscathed.